No "Motor Klassik Award" without a prize for Alfa Romeo. In the 2022 edition, Alfa Romeo won the competition in the "Classic Coupés" category. In addition, the renowned classic car magazine readers voted the Alfa Romeo 1900C Super Sprint from the 1950s their number 1 with a vote share of 30.8 percent.
"It is a great honor and a cherished tradition for Alfa Romeo to be among the 'Motor Klassik Award' winners. I am very proud that the knowledgeable readers have again chosen one of our iconic models as the winner. The Alfa Romeo 1900C Super Sprint is not considered one of the most beautiful coupés for nothing," commented Niccolò Biagioli, Brand Country Director of Alfa Romeo.
The Motor Klassik magazine has been published since 1984. More than 18,000 readers took part in the current edition of the annual "Motor Klassik Award" competition. The award ceremony took place at Stuttgart's "Retro Classics" trade fair.
A new era began for Alfa Romeo in 1950 with the 1900 model. The brand, founded in 1910, changed from the manufacturer of exclusive luxury limousines and sports cars to a large-scale manufacturer. Thanks to industrial production methods, the Alfa Romeo plant in Milan's Portello district built over 17,500 sedans of the 1900 series between 1950 and 1959 - a number previously unattainable for the brand.
The 1900 model was the first Alfa Romeo with a monocoque body. Unfortunately, this construction meant the end of the successful business model of numerous design studios. Instead, they could buy rolling chassis (chassis with wheel suspension, engine, transmission, and drive) from Alfa Romeo and complete them with a self-designed and manufactured body.
But Alfa Romeo responded to inquiries and also offered the chassis of the 1900 model without a body. For sporty cabriolets and coupés, the wheelbase has been shortened by 13 to 250 centimeters.
The designation Super, in turn, stood for the most powerful engine variant. The 1.9-liter four-cylinder with racing genes delivered 85 kW (115 hp). It had two overhead camshafts, just as little a matter of course as the five-speed gearbox.
More than a dozen Carrozzieri designed their coupés and cabriolets based on the Alfa Romeo 1900, including the Touring, Pininfarina, Zagato, Bertone, Vignale, and Ghia.